Modern Vespa

Wondering if I should preemptively get a new battery in my 2020 Vespa this spring.

Why?

Has it been maintained over the winter? If concerned, remove it and take it to a shop or battery store like Interstate Battery and have it load tested. This will determine the health of the battery.

Four years is a respectable service life for a motorcycle/scooter battery. Some last longer, some don't.

Simply asking owners of the same model that I have how long their original battery lasted.

Also, I'm planning a 1300 mile round trip ride on the GTS in mid-May, with about three hundred and fifty of miles of it in this kind of geography. I'd like to assure a healthy response from the starter when I push the little button after stopping to take pictures of those cute little Prairie Dogs out there.

It hasn't had a trickle charger on it, but at least it's tucked into an attached garage that although not heated, stayed well above the outside temperature in the winter.

Get a LiFePO4 (LFP) battery. That won't let you down over multiple stop and starts.

e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-7-5AH-Motorcycle-Compatible/dp/B0C7P5JKZF

I bought my GTS used in 2020 with the current battery in it. No issues, knock on wood.

I ride it to work a lot, but If it's parked a couple of weeks, I juice it up for a few hours with a tender then unplug the tender.

Mine never last more than a year or two. I use a maintainer all the time as well. Maybe I will try a lithium next time...

Alot of factors go into this. I have a 2012 GTS, I got 10 years out of the first battery, but I rode it once a week year round, so expect results to vary.

If you do, you can give away the maintainer.

I have truly went through batteries - Winter in MInnesota can be brutal. Even in an enclosed garage, with below zero temperatures, if you do not have a tender on the battery it can discharge and freeze.

If you are going on a long extended multiple day ride - get a new battery. In my mind - cheap insurance. I preemptively replace belts, tires, batteries and follow all recommended service procdures. I pay a little more, but have never been stranded in 20 years.

I know some good folks are on a tight budget. I have quit waiting for stuff go wrong. Probably a product of having a Dad who was a career automotive service manager.

Bob Copeland

I'll replace the battery in the next thirty days, and probably get a fresh set of quality tires on it as
well.

Thanks, Bob.

My 2020 still has the original battery in it. I occasionally put it on a tender but it shows no signs of giving up yet.

Now that I wrote that, it will probably crap out next week.

Ten years with the factory-installed Yuasa on my 2012. I had to replace it, because I finally decided to put it on a tender for once. Since the bike is always outside, I had to take the battery out. The duct tape handle snapped while I was on the staircase. It bumped at least half a dozen times. Looked fine after that, but I discarded it right away.

The factory-installed battery on my Ford lasted 14 years. No garage. No tender. Only ever driven on weekends.

I've owned multiple Vespa 300s since 2008 and always place them on a "smart" trickle charger when not in use. I've seen >7 years service without issue.

I've never used a trickle charger on my bikes during the winter months since we moved from Minneapolis to western South Dakota in 1993.

I would estimate that's at least thirty motorcycles and scooters ago (if you can consider Burgman 650's as 'scooters'). During the winter layups, if unable to get out and ride them, the bikes are started up every couple weeks and allowed to warm up. Of course, over the past three decades, we've had to occasionally replace a battery here and there, but none that I can honestly attribute to not being on a charger.

Back in Minneapolis, I would remove the bike's battery and keep it in the house over the hard winter months, but haven't felt any pressing need to do that here.

Western South Dakota isn't Miami, but it's generally far more temperate in the winter months than Minneapolis.

Replace the tyres ? What's wrong with those quality whitewall Savas that you have on there now ?

Now here's a dilemma, do I respond to Stephen's typically sarcastic post with an equal level of sarcasm of my own, or perhaps 'take the higher road' (I know I will be quite alone there) and simply ignore him?

You have a GREAT day Mr. Cooper. Ride safe.

What's wrong with the Sava's ? They'd last the ride as they are quite hard.

Best Wishes

Stephen Cooper

Sava's?

I had to look those up, never heard of that tire before.

I got a 2018 GTS, I replaced the battery as it was misbehaving in 2022 with a Motoblatt unit. Haven't had any problems with it.
Unless your GTS is misbehaving and the battery is the culprit, why change it?

It was just a thought.

Batteries for these machines aren't expensive.

I don't have any kids, don't drink or smoke, don't even have a motorhome, boat, ATV, or snowmobile, and so can easily afford a small bike battery now and then, even before one
fails.

It would be a decadent luxury to go out and buy a new battery just for the hell of it.

I would certainly prefer to buy another entirely new GTS300, just to get the new battery that they come with, but that's a little extreme even for me.

You've mentioned a few times that the shinkos aren't good in the rain so seeing as you arent going to have any control over the weather for your journey and probably won't be able to sit it out if it does rain, it makes sense to get new tyres.

Silly me, Sava / Shinkos. Still the worst decision you could make when it comes to a tyre choice.

Unsafe at any speed.

JBlack,

It usually is employment or a lady. What led to you moving from Minneapolis to the extreme SW Wilds of South Dakota. I do admit your area is beautiful.

My Mom's (German) family was originally from South Dakota. The Twin Cities acted like a large sucking magnet as people moved off the farms. Her family (Maiden name Geed), still own whole section farms in mid South Dakota. I would go peasant hunting with my Uncle back to the family farm.

Bob Copeland
Eden Prairie (SW Suburb of Minneapolis)

The Shinko whitewalls are about half-life anyway, and better all-around performance tires for these bikes aren't very expensive...relatively, of course.

The OEM Avon rear tire alone for my Triumph
retails at something like $530 USD, so anything I buy for this Vespa, elective or necessity, seems dirt cheap by comparison.

I guess that the price you pay for putting ascetics over practicality.

Minnesotans hunting peasants in western South Dakota....

I bought my GTS precisely because of it's subjectively asthetic attractiveness.

If I was to be less emotional and more practical where it concerns my vehicle choices, I would have bought a Burgman 400 or similar machine that has well established durability, better road performance, and a servicing dealer 10 miles away rather than 350.

It can be a bit of an inconvenient pain-in-the-ass to own a Vespa where I live, but I feel it's worth for it's exclusivity and great styling if nothing else....so far.

I was talking about the $500 rear tyre.

It just seems very wasteful.

I lived in St. Paul, then Minneapolis, for twenty years. My (now) wife 'Trixie/Sparky' would go on ten day to two weeks motorcycle trips at least once each year, most of them to the western and southwestern states, and we'd pass through the western Dakotas often on these trips, and we liked what we saw here, both geographically, culturally, and yes, politically.

After one of these bike trips, we started to think about possibly moving here, so subscribed to the Rapid City Journal newspaper for a year to get some idea what life was like here on a daily basis, news of course, crime reports, job opportunities, etc.

We decided to take the plunge, quit our jobs, rented a U-Haul truck, drugged the cat, and headed out here.

That was 1993.

Less traffic, less urban congestion, less crime, less humid summers, less super-cold winters, and some of the best motorcycle (scooter) riding country imaginable in the Black Hills and surrounding area.

About the only thing that I miss about the twin cities is the much more varied motorcycle culture there, but I suppose with the town of Sturgis only twenty-five miles down the highway from us, so that shouldn't be a surprise.

That's why I didn't replace it with another Avon last year.

The newer jump start packs are pretty small - it might pay to carry one. As you know, you can't push start or kick start these things.

Check out CTEK battery chargers. They include a feature called"reconditionin" cycle that discharges the battery completely, then recharges it. Doing this once in a while reduces sulfite buildup on the plates, thus restoring a lot of the original capacity. Scooters have dinky batteries, and minimalist alternators, for space and weight reasons.Combine that with short rides at city speeds, and you have a torture test for batteries.
The CTEK devices are a little more expensive, but compact, robust, and they work on cars, too.

Four years is not a respectable service life for a scooter battery.

I have a BV 300, mechanically almost identical to a GTS 300. My BV is from 2012 and I still have the original off factory Yuasa battery in it doing fine. I keep it in good condition in winter on a CTEK trickle charger. (other brands probably give the same good result)

J - You know how I like suggesting new shit you should buy for all your bikes, and you know how you like buying it, so let's do our thing bud:

Before you buy a battery you may or may not need, or waste time going to auto places to have them test your battery, do this:

Go to Amazon, search for "Battery load tester"

You'll find some for $25, $35, etc. some are very basic and give you a "GOOD", "OK" or "BAD" reading only (and you read the voltage and figure out what's going on).

Some have a little digital display and will let you choose between doing battery test, cranking test, charging test, etc.

Both options are dirt cheap.

You have a lot of vehicles. It's $25. You could waste money you don't need on batteries you don't need, or you could spend hours taking all of your batteries out to be tested at a store, or you could just spend the $25 and test all your babies once or twice a year like me

I've done my part of the deal. Now you do yours. You're welcome

I just might look into this electrical contraption that you say can read the health of them batteries and can save some bucks in the process.

Can you tell who the enabler is in my circle of friends?

I've been riding 4.5 years, and have never had to replace a battery that I didn't accidentally destroy(by leaving the bike on overnight or other self inflicted problem)

Everything gets on a battery maintainer for a few hours every week. Bikes are garaged.